All That Is Required
by farfetched4
Summary: Zapdos visits Moltres on her perch at Faldera Volcano, subtly asking for her assistance. Slight Zapdos/Moltres, set after the events of Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs, with vague spoilers.


Vague spoilers to Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs.

Curious as to her airborne visitor, Moltres opened an eye, and subsequently watched Zapdos alight upon the heated grounds of the volcano, tufts of hardy grass bending under the down-force of his massive wings and the steam that hovered from the vents pulsed momentarily. He had not appeared to have noticed that she was conscious, looking down to his claws where he buried them in the dirt, flexing them several times to make them more comfortable, she suspected. Their claws were not designed for flat ground, being more adept at curling securely around branches like the rest of their kind. However, they needn't become accustomed to any kind of ground really, as they rarely held the birds' weight: the three of them, Articuno as well, tended to be resting or flying. There was little in between.

He seemed a little at a loss as to how to put his wings, but eventually folded them slightly against his sides, static crackling through his feathers each time he shifted them. She then raised her head, noting how he only looked mildly surprised to see her awake.

"What brings you here, Zapdos?"  
>He bent his legs until his body meet with the ground, and settled after ruffling his wings a further few times.<br>"I needed to stretch my wings." Zapdos tilted his head slightly, unblinking eyes set on her. "You may continue sleeping if you wish."

She, in turn, stretched her wings out to either side of her, tendrils of flame flickering from them.  
>"On the contrary, I have done little else in centuries. I will indulge in talking to my first welcomed visitor."<p>

A wry smile made itself evident in his tone.  
>"I'm honoured."<p>

She looked away from him, still banishing the vestiges of sleep from her mind. Relatively speaking, she had not slept long: not even a year, perhaps half, yet it still grasped her deeply when she did fall asleep.  
>Far below her, the sea lapped at the edges of Faldera Volcano and a strong breeze twirled around the sparsely populated island, causing the singular building upon the volcano to creak forebodingly. It was old, borne of times long ago when exploring was a high priority for humans, and conquering all types of terrains seemed to be the intention. One of the only outposts left without any signs of civilisation was Mount Layuda, the statically charged island of residence of her current companion.<br>Moltres did not mind the few human occupants of her island: she need not bother them, and they, in return, never bothered her. The only human to truly bother her was the red-eyed and coated man, sending an odd pulsing beam at her that she had felt even from the deep vestiges of her slumber. But she sensed the conflict in his heart, the desire for purpose, and had thus forgiven his actions.

"I feel I should apologise…"  
>She peered at Zapdos, broken from her musings, in confusion. Whatever was he referring to? She could think of nothing that would require his condolences.<p>

"For what?"  
>He turned his head back to watch her, almost as if puzzled.<p>

"For awakening." Zapdos turned his gaze away again, over the rest of the Oblivia region. If she suspected correctly, he was in fact staring at the perpetual storm clouds coalescing over his home, despite his absence. "I knew he had a bad heart. He was rotten through. But I still awoke for him..."

She would have frowned if she could, if her composition had allowed for such an expression. As it was, she lightly flapped her wings to glide closer to him, settling once again in front of him. His static flickered pleasantly across her feathers, and she supposed the heat of her wings probably carried over to him as well.

"Did you not awake for the overwhelming pure-of-heart that followed it though? 'Twas akin to a clean ray of sunshine, something I have not felt in millennia."  
>He looked at her again, and she sensed a certain relief from him; perhaps that she had understand - she pondered whether he'd worried that she had thought his motives corrupt.<p>

"I did. There was so much... _black_, there, it was like twin thunderbolts, gleaming so brightly despite the dark surroundings... It had descended upon Oblivia. So quickly too, my own sleep was disturbed: no doubt you and Articuno noticed it also. Yet..." He trailed off, so she trilled quietly for him to continue. "Yet we aided the attacks against them."

"Unwittingly." Moltres shuddered at the thought of what their power had unwillingly brought. She still found it hard to look over to that atoll, where Dolce Island had once stood, victim of a cruel show of power, intended to frighten. She was intensely relieved that it had not gone further than that. "We were controlled. You know that - none of us could have resisted, and I'm sure we all tried our hardest against the bonds set upon us."

"Thank you." It was all he'd needed; the reassurance that he'd not been alone, that it was not his fault. Fundamentally, he knew it and had known all along, but he required the words of another to fully assay those fears. Zapdos just needed to know that they had been just as scared as him.

Gently, she ran her beak through a few of his feathers surrounding his face, soothing him. Tenderly, he returned the gesture, careful to avoid the flames at the back of her head.

"You may visit more often, if you will. It is... isolated here sometimes." She sensed a certain element of resigned aura from him. He paused in his preening of her.

"I have little to converse about."  
>Had she been able, she would have smiled. Instead, she lightly tapped the side of her beak against his, head bowed slightly and eyes closed in intimacy. He mirrored her subconsciously.<p>

"I shan't require constant chatter; I will enjoy the company just as much." He chirped quietly in confirmation. "You'll understand why I may not return the favour, won't you, Zapdos..?" Unseen to her, he opened one eye to look at her, before closing it again, allowing a relaxing aura overtake him to comfort her.

"Of course, Moltres. It is the same situation with Articuno."

And for that moment, those moments, they could forget the ordeal forced upon them and the ensuing terror, and focus on their sunlit beams.

* * *

><p>The aftermath of the main events of Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs. The pure-of-heart they speak of are Summer and Ben, since one of my head-canons is that legendary pokemon have an ability to see what is in a person's soul. The 'red-eyed' man Moltres refers to is obviously Red Eyes (I wonder if they ran out of names...), but the after game text shows that he isn't all bad.<p>

The bit about the other two birds not visiting is to do with the fact that as flying-types, they both have a weakness to electricity, and Mount Layuda is shown to have bad weather. Mind you, They wouldn't see much of each other in their own habitats since Zapdos is weak to Articuno, Articuno is weak to both their types and Moltres is weak to Zapdos. So Zapdos could visit Moltres and Moltres could visit Articuno, and yeah. That was way too complicated to explain.

Sometimes, you just need someone else to tell you what you did was out of your control, and you were not wrong.

Hope you liked it!


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